Whether it's the course where players have shot low scores in recent years or some of the biggest galleries on tour, the 3M Championship has become a must-play event for the top golfers of the 50-and-over set. For the third straight year, admission is free.

"It's a fantastic field again," said Bernhard Langer, who chipped in on 18 to win the event two years ago.

Defending champion David Frost established a tournament scoring record with a 25-under 191 total last year, including a final-round 61. Mark Calcavecchia finished five shots back. The average winning score the last six years is minus-18.

Scores could be that low again.

The course received more than 1.5 inches of rain overnight Saturday, six-tenths of an inch Monday, and another quarter-inch Tuesday.

"If there are soft greens out here, look for guys to make a ton of birdies," said Browne, who tied for eighth last year at 15 under. "Guys do go deep here."

Most players refuse to predict a winning number.

"It's all relative to how you play," said David Eger, ninth in the season-long points race.

Fred Couples -- returning to competitive golf after missing two months with a back injury -- is scheduled to play the tournament for the first time, as is Minnesota native Tom Lehman, who is the course architect along with Arnold Palmer. Lehman is a three-time Champions Tour winner in 2011.

"You always want to play the best," Langer said.

Brad Faxon, an eight-time winner on the PGA Tour who turned 50 on Monday, is scheduled to make his Champions Tour debut this weekend.

"There's not many places people look forward to turning 50," said Faxon, who has struggled on the PGA Tour the past few years. "This is a fresh start. ... It's kind of a rebirth."

Browne hopes the week is another step in ending his up-and-down season. He finished in the top eight in five straight tournaments early in the season, but was better than 23rd just twice in his next nine starts.

His iron play was better last week, and he made a tweak when hitting his driver.

"It feels great," he said. "It certainly motivates me to continue doing what I'm doing so that I can do that or be able to do that more frequently. ... You get so few opportunities to do something like that, that, to me, the important thing was to embrace the challenge and do the very best I could."

How does he keep it going?

"I'll let you know on the weekend," he said with a slight smile. "I'm trying to get some rest, I'm having a hard time doing that. My phone is ringing off the hook and I've gotten a lot of emails. I'm trying to respond to all those people. It's really nice that people take the time, and I want to make sure I get back to them."